The substitute said "Put your phones in the box. No one is leaving until I get answers."

The substitute locked the classroom door

and said, "Put your phones in the box.

No one is leaving until I get answers."

She walked in 5 minutes after the bell,

didn't apologize for being late, and

wrote, "Mrs. Thornton on the board

without saying a word. Then she locked

the classroom door, put a cardboard box

on the front table, and just stood there

staring at us." "PH phones," she said,

tapping the box. "Every single one." We

all looked at each other like this was a

joke, but her face said it wasn't. One

by one, we dropped our phones in and she

put the box behind her chair where

nobody could grab it. Then she sat down

and didn't say anything for at least 30

seconds. [music] Just looked at each of

us like she was memorizing our faces.

Who was in this classroom yesterday at 3

p.m. Silence. School ends at 2:30.

Nobody has any reason to be here an hour

after that. A kid near the window said

maybe she was thinking of a different

room. and she shook her head slowly. I'm

not. Someone sitting here right now was

in this exact classroom yesterday

afternoon and I can prove it. She pulled

out a printed photo. The second she held

it up, I heard someone whisper, "What

the hell?" The photo showed this

classroom completely destroyed. The

whiteboard was covered in spray paint

slurs and threats. The kind of stuff

that gets you expelled and maybe

arrested. Desks were overturned. Student

projects that had been hanging on the

walls were torn down and shredded. This

happened yesterday between 3:00 and 5:00

p.m. She said security footage is

useless because someone covered the

cameras with tape. The janitor didn't

find this until 6:00 a.m. She put the

photo down. But here's what nobody

counted on. Whoever did this took a

selfie. You could feel the whole room

tense up. She told us the photo got

posted to a private Snapchat story.

Someone screenshotted it. By last night,

it had been forwarded through half a

dozen group chats until it reached her.

She didn't know who took the original

picture, but she knew it was taken right

here. Same whiteboard, same angle, same

spray paint. One of us did this. Then

the room turned on itself. Jasmine

pointed at Stanley and said he was

always sneaking around after school.

Stanley said Jasmine got caught keying a

teacher's car last year, so maybe she

should shut up. Someone brought up how

Destiny had failed Mrs. Salazar's class

last semester. Marco said he saw two

kids from this class near the back

stairwell yesterday, but couldn't

remember who. Suddenly, everyone was

accusing everyone. Old drama resurfaced.

Grudges came out. Someone called Cody a

racist, and he nearly threw a chair. The

substitute just sat there watching. She

had a notebook open and kept writing

things down, her eyes moving from

student to student. Every time someone

made an accusation, she wrote something.

She wasn't trying to calm anyone down.

She was studying us. I probably wouldn't

have noticed Garrett if he wasn't

sitting right in front of me. He hadn't

moved since this started. Hadn't said

anything. His hood was up and his hands

were jammed in his pockets and he was

staring at the corner of his desk like

it held the answers to the universe. His

leg was shaking so bad I could feel it

through the floor. His friend Eli leaned

over and muttered, "Yo, you okay?"

"Nothing." Eli tried again. "Garrett,

what's wrong with you?" Garrett's

breathing got faster. Still didn't look

up. The substitute's eyes drifted over

to him. She stopped writing, just

watched him for a long moment. Then she

looked down at her notebook and circled

something. Eli went pale. Garrett, his

voice was barely a whisper. Yesterday at

like 400 p.m. you texted me saying you

were home playing Fortnite, but last

night you told me you stayed after

school for tutoring until 5:00. Garrett

wouldn't look at him, so which one was

the lie? Every single person turned to

look at Garrett. The substitute stood up

and walked toward him. The photo was

taken right there. She pointed at the

whiteboard, spray paint still wet and on

the hands of whoever took it. She

stopped next to his desk. They were

wearing a gray hoodie with a white logo.

Want to tell me why you're wearing the

exact same hoodie today? Garrett's hand

moved to cover the logo on his chest,

but it [music] was too late. I didn't.

It's not. His voice cracked. Please. My

name isn't Mrs. Thornton. She crouched

down so she was eye level with him. I'm

Mrs. Salazar, and you destroyed four

years of my work because you got a C on

a project. She stood back up.

Administration told me there was nothing

they could do. No footage, no witnesses,

so I made my own investigation. She held

up her phone. I've been recording since

I walked in. I have your friend

confirming your alibi was a lie. I have

you wearing the same clothes as the

vandal, and now I have a room full of

witnesses who watched you fall apart.

Garrett was crying now. I'm sorry. I

didn't mean I was just so angry. Mrs.

Salazar unlocked the door. Principal

Reeves was standing in the hallway with

a police officer. He's ready to talk

now. Garrett got expelled and his

parents had to pay $11,000 in damages.

The district issued Mrs. Salazar a

public apology and gave her a budget to

rebuild her classroom from scratch.